Negros Oriental boasts of many natural attractions. Dumaguete's pride and joy is Rizal Boulevard with its ancient acacia trees and ancient houses. Canlaon City has Mt. Canlaon. Bais City is promoting dolphin and whale watching in Tanon Strait. The 12-hectare Apo Island is a marine conservation park and hence, a popular dive site. The town of Valencia is the home of Mt. Talinis which is blessed with rare flora and fauna. Mabinay claims the second longest cave in the country.
This is not what impressed me about the province. The best scenic route for me is still the one from Butuan City to Cagayan de Oro over hills, waterfalls, rivers and by the sea. The lovely pastoral scene along the Tacloban-Ormoc route is dreamy. The colonial architecture in Iloilo has a character all its own owing to the well-preserved historic buildings and ancestral homes. There are more choices in the various islands and islets dotting the seas of Surigao. Down South, Davao and Zamboanga beckon with their ethnic arts and crafts, and barter trade goodies.
But hands down, Negros Oriental is the nicest place there is. The people make the difference. Traveling from Dumaguete to Tambobo and Siaton, and on another occasion to Bais, we passed public beaches, rivers and marshes. There were houses, sari-sari stores, and eateries interspersed with the mangroves and nipa "forests" but little signs of garbage. It was not so when I took the grueling bus trip from Roxas to Kalibo, or the four-hour ride along the coastal route from Tagbilaran to Talibon. Turning towards the mountainous interior of Mabinay the view changed but one thing remained constant aside from the fact that the roads are paved and in good condition. No matter how modest their huts are, people here take pride in their homes. Frilly curtains lace the windows; the yards are clean; and plants, flowers and vegetables abound. A far cry from the poverty manifested in the rural areas of Cotabato. In Negros Oriental, those who are poor carry on with a quiet dignity without a hint of self-pity, desperation or hopelessness.
Perhaps because they elected competent government officials. During the Visayas Business Conference held in Dumaguete last August one congressman talked about their scholarship program of sponsoring promising students from each town or barangay to enroll in engineering or technical courses every year. This way, he explained, we are also preparing a ready-pool of manpower when the investors start coming in. My seatmate from Bacolod muttered, "I feel so sorry for my kababayans." Why, I asked. "Because we have seven congressmen but nobody as progressive as the three congressmen here."
Dumaguete does call itself "a highly moralistic and education-conscious society." This purposive effort to meld humanity with progress by balancing it with education, religious, cultural and moral values is evident. Bethel Hotel at Rizal Boulevard exemplifies this mindset. It's a "no alcoholic drinks, no smoking" hotel. I drink beer and I smoke, but if you ask me, it's still the best hotel because it puts service ahead of profit. The staff are warm, courteous, and helpful. One can tell the quality of the management by the morale, sunny disposition and neat appearance of its employees. The hotel's sensitivity to its guests' show in the cleanliness of the rooms, complimentary slippers and toothpaste in addition to the usual towels, shampoo and soap. There are amenities like cable TV with remote control, aircon, hot shower, ice every morning, and purified hot and cold water at the counter in every floor. The lobby and every floor of this five-story hotel has a magazine and newspaper rack by the elevator. One night's stay in a studio room costs P525.
I bought my ticket for Cebu at the pier minutes before the scheduled departure. The place was crowded with porters, business travelers, students and regular citizens waiting to board the fastcraft. No shoving, pushing, elbowing or cutting in line -- everybody was patient and civilized. Sigh, why can't the rest of the Philippines be as nice as Dumaguete?